before being asked by the machine

ROOM is an independent multi-disciplinary exhibition and project based space focused on collaboration, dialogue and exchange

SOLO EXHIBITIONS OF PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS BY THENJIWE NIKI NKOSI & PAMELA PHATSIMO SUNSTRUM

BEFORE BEING ASKED BY THE MACHINE/09.05 - 03.06.2013




ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The drawings and paintings presented at ROOM reflect the more subtle aspects of Nkosi

and Sunstrum’s studio practices, which in the past have ranged from filmmaking and

performance to installation and animation. In responding to the intimate size of the

exhibition space, the artists have decided to treat the gallery as a “reading room”: a

space for a slow and intimate consideration of thought – processes, ideas and

imaginings.

“before being asked by the machine” will be followed by the second part of the solo

exhibition series titled Space Station All-Stars,” which will open at the Ithuba Art Space

in Braamfontein in July 2013.

“before being asked by the machine” is the name of a collection of poems by Daniel Browde (Dreadnought Anti - Matter, 2000).




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum

About the drawings:

The landscapes and suggestion of landscapes in Sunstrum’s drawings can be thought of as the

main character in a narrative Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum has been building for many years in her

work. The drawings reflect the artist’s continued interest in the invention of mythology; however

they represent a significant aesthetic departure: If her previous works were constructions of

mythologies from a distant past, these new works are an imagining of “ mythologies of a future”.

In developing these drawings, Sunstrum was interested in discovering a visual language that

simultaneously ancient and futuristic. Allusions to space travel, parallel dimensions and alternate

realities reveal her fascination with the tropes of science fiction. Her quasi-scientific geometric

abstractions of space and landscape reflect her interest in physics theories that attempt to

quantify the structure of time, space and the universe. These drawings were developed with a

specific appreciation for the intimate space of ROOM: viewers are invited to “read” them closely,

and those who accept the invitation are rewarded. The drawings can also be treated as detailed

notes, schematics or maps for navigating a series of larger, installation based drawings and

animations that will be unveiled in “ Space Station All Stars” in July.




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum she had alreadycome this farPencil and ink on paper17.5cm x 21cm | 2013R 2 900,00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum transmit 01pencil, ink and collage on paper21cm x 15.5cm | 2012R 2 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum outpostInk and pencil on paper17.5cm x 21cm | 2013R 3 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum sparklaWatercolour and pencil on paper17.5cm x 21cm | 2013R 2 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum when I read my own poems late at nightWatercolour, ink and pencil on paper25.5cm x 20cm | 2013R 3 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum swarmaInk and pencil on paper21cm x 17.5cm | 2013R 2 800.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum up and down and downPencil and ink on paper24cm x 21cm | 2013R 2 900.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum What the eye sees is a dream of sight / what it wakes to / is a dream of sightWatercolour, ink and pencil on paper 28.5cm x 21cm | 2013R 2 900.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum mmetricapencil, ink and collage on paper21cm x 15.5cm | 2012R 2 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum monolithwatercolour, pencil and ink on paper18.5cm x 24cm | 2013R 3 200.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum we give it our allWalnut ink and pencil on paper17.5cm x 21.5cm | 2013R 3 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum vertebrae by vertebraeWatercolour, Ink and pencil on paper21.5cm x 17.5cm | 2013R 2 800.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum dissectionalWatercolour, ink and pencil on paper24cm x 21cm | 2013R 2 900.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum all of the lightsWatercolour and pencil on paper19cm x 21cm | 2013R 2 900.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum condescendaPencil, walnut ink and acrylic on paper21.5cm x 17.5cm | 2013R 2 700.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum we find the reverbWalnut ink and pencil on paper21.5cm x 18cm | 2013R 3 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum we know the frequencyWalnut ink and pencil on paper20.5cm x 21.5cm | 2013R 3 500.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum why it gets dark and then light againWatercolour and pencil on paper21cm x 21cm | 2013R 2 900.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum close callWatercolour and pencil on paper21cm x 22cm | 2013R 2 700.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum wish you were herePencil on paper18cm x 21.5cm | 2013R 2 700.00




Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum(tw)inklingPencil, ink, gold leaf and mica flake on paper20.5cm x 21cm | 2013, R3000.00




Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi

About the Paintings:

Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi’s paintings in “ before being asked by the machine” are part of a larger series of work investigating power and power structures. A collection of portraits, these

works are simultaneously a departure for her as an artist as well as a logical extension of her previous work, which has focused on architectural and social structures. In this series she pursues a line of questioning at once playful and deadly serious. What is a hero? Who are

our heroes Do we need and therefore create them? Are they foisted upon us? Who gets memoralised and why? In these flat and minimalist portraits, rendered in muted tones, Nkosi

draws her subjects from a range of photographic conventions: ID pictures, posed and unposed snapshots, iconic faces at ordinary moments. Their scale, which approximates life size, permits the viewer a disarmingly face-to-face interaction. Nkosi’s work is an inquiry into

the subjective nature of the terms “ hero” – evoking the classical hero, the anti-hero the divisive hero, the unsung hero…and so on. We are too familiar with an overused idiom that

says “ a person is only a person through other people”. But what about the hero, who, by definition, stands apart from other people? Are they still people? Or are they something else?




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiUpright ManOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2012R 10 000.00




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiMidoOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 9 000.00




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiMotherOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 9 000.00




HeadOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 9 000.00




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiSibolileOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 9 000.00




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiNgwana wa Tshwenya (Problem Child)Oil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 9 000.00




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiXOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 9 000.00




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiAneneOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 9 000.00




Thenjiwe Niki NkosiHaniOil on canvas50cm x 50cm | 2013R 10 000.00




Artist Biographies:

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum was born in Botswana and grew up in Canada, Sudan, Sri Lanka,

Malawi and South Africa. She completed her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, USA. In 2010 Sunstrum relocated to Johannesburg. She is an artist in residence at

the Bag Factory Artist’s Studios; a researcher at the Centre for the Creative Arts of Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand and a part time lecturer at the History of Art department at the same institution. More of Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum’s work can be seen at

www.PamelaPhatsimo.com

Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi grew up in New York, Harare and Johannesburg. She returned to the US in 2000 to attend Harvard university and in 2008 she completed an MFA at New York’s School of Visual Arts. She divides her time between studio work and navigating the field of

collaborative practice. She is currently an artist in residence at the Bag Factory Artist’s studios in Johannesburg. More of Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi’s work can be seen at

www.ThenjiweNkosi.com

http://www.PamelaPhatsimo.com

http://www.PamelaPhatsimo.com

http://www.ThenjiweNkosi.com

http://www.ThenjiweNkosi.com

ABOUT ROOMROOM is an independent initiative initiated by Urbanart Project, showcasing visual arts-led, multidisciplinary programme of exhibitions,projects providing mainly emerging artists with agency and opportunities to present their work. A space dedicated to collaboration, inter-disciplinary dialogue and exchange.

ROOM aims to be a part of an interrogative and constructive urban culture, which draws its references from its surrounding environment and by doing so, informs its visual sensibility, creative programming and values.

ROOM hopes to be a context, which increases awareness of the multitude of creative production, through the projects it engages with (be they poetry, music, performance or visual art based) and to take full advantage of the ever-increasing number of platforms in the public domain.

ROOM will function as an independent visual arts exhibitions and project based space, with monthly artistic programming.

For more information: Contact: Maria Fidel Regueros >> [email protected]

ROOM Opening Hours:Mon – Fri 10h00 – 16h00Saturday 10h00 - 15h00

before being asked by the machine

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